The New Wavemaster

On the move from Shelburne, NS for seal trials to Saint John, NB is the  tug Wavemaster. Owned by Harbour Development Ltd, the dredging subsidiary of Atlantic Towing Ltd, it has re-used a name from the past.


Built for the Royal Netherlands Navy as Regge, the tug was acquired early last year and sailed to Shelburne in March. Since then it has been extensively rebuilt, and in June 2018 was renamed Wavemaster.

See Tugfax 2018/03/21   for more on the Regge.

 Irving Willow working in Yarmouth harbour has an extended wheelhouse and modified deck house.



This is the second HDL tug to be named Wavemaster. The first was built in 1958 by J.I. Thornycroft in Southampton, UK for the local Red Funnel Tug fleet. It was powered by two 6 cyl Crossleys giving 1340 bhp with twin screws. Named Dunnose it was one of four similar tugs acquired by Atlantic Towing over the years. In 1980 it was renamed Irving Willow and seems to have been attached to the dredging fleet from early days. Because some of its accommodation was below deck, and no longer permissible for Canadian tugs, the deck house and wheelhouse were modified. Sister tug Atlantic Juniper ex Irving Juniper ex Thorness was not modified and remained a day boat as a result. (It was to be broken up in the last year.)

Sister tug Atlantic Juniper remained a day boat in Saint John, NB.

 When the J.D.Irving parent company removed the "Irving" name from its tugs in 1996, Irving Willow was renamed Wavemaster. It was laid up in Dartmouth in 1998, and although drydocked in 2004, it was never in service again and was finally broken up in Dartmouth in 2005.

 The same tug, as Wavemaster worked with dredges and scows.

Harbour Development has been making do with only one large tug (and small tugs and workboats) since 1998, so it seems likely that the new Wavemaster will be replacing the veteran Swellmaster. Also a Thornycroft- built former Red Funnel tug, it was built in 1965 as the firefighting tug Atherfield. It came to Canada for Atlantic Towing Ltd in 1971 and was renamed Irving Hemlock. It has been attached to the dredging fleet from the beginning, and was renamed Swellmaster in 1996.

 Irving Hemlock still carried fire monitors which were used for washing down scows.

A twin screw tug, originally with two Crossley engines totalling 1340bhp it was re-engined with a pair of 12 cylinder Caterpillars in 1987 giving 2,000 bhp. The new Wavemaster seems to be a suitable  replacement.

Swellmaster was also equipped with a winch for towing dredges from port to port.

At Shelburne Ship Repair in Shelburne, NS - also part of J.D.Irving and Irving Shipbuilding Inc, I hear that the yard's tug/workboat SSR 3 has been broken up some time ago.

Built in 1964 for Ferguson Industries in Pictou for the Department of Public Works dredging fleet, its original name was Grand Entrée. A 380 bhp single screw boat it was stationed in the Magdalen Islands, but later transferred to Gaspé. In 1996 it was renamed T.5 when DPW put their entire dredging fleet up for sale. Harbour Development Ltd bought the boat and used it for a time. It was then laid up in Dartmouth and when Dartmouth Marine Slips was shut down it was transferred to Shelburne.

It was then renamed SSR 3 but the registered name remained T.5. The shipyard used the tug for working around the slip and as a diving tender, but it was laid up about 2005, and broken up sometime in 2017.  

The number of tugs built in the 1950s and 60s is rapidly diminishing, Although about 25 are still listed in the Atlantic Region, several of those are laid up and unlikely to return to service. There are also a few still  listed which have in fact been broken up already.

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Southwestern (Nova Scotia) tugs

A couple of loops around southwestern Nova Scotia in the past few weeks turned up a bit of tug activity.

June 2 Lunenburg 

At Lunenburg Theodore Too was in port for a tune up before heading to its new summer base at Saint John, NB. It arrived there June 7.

 That looks like a new hard hat on the dock.

Also at the Lunenburg Foundry and Engineering's dock the basic tug  Mascot. It has an aluminum deckhouse, complete with an oar mounted on the cabin - not sure how much bollard pull they would achieve using that.

June 21 Shelburne

Shelburne Shipyard had two tugs alongside in addition to its own workboat.

 In the background the Canadian naval tug Glenbrook which arrived June 19 for refit. And alongside is SSR2 the former Stenpro III , which was transferred from Liverpool when Irving Shipbuilding Inc moved its operation to Shelburne.

 Undergoing a refit for Canadian service, the former Dutch naval tug Regge. At this time the  interior is being gutted to remove combustible material and fitting out new accommodations.

June 21 Meteghan River 

At the A.F. Thériault + Sons shipyard the much traveled Hudson Bay Explorer appears to be getting another makeover

The shallow draft tug/supplier was pre-fabbed by Vito Steel Boat + Barge Construction in Delta, BC in 1971 and was assembled in Hay River, NWT by Alberta Equipment Centre as Beaufort Sea Explorer for Arctic Transportation Ltd. After arctic service with several owners it was sold to Klynne Tugs (Lowestoft) Ltd and renamed Anglian Sea Explorer inn1992 and worked in the UK until returning to Canada in 1995 for Moosonee Transportation Ltd.

In 2003 it suffered a serious fire while on a slip in Wemindji, QC and was towed to St.John's where it was rebuilt from the main deck up. All new deckhouse and funnels changed the profile dramatically from its original Robert Allen design. Its original V-16 Cats, delivering 2250 bhp through two screws in nozzles, survived the fire and remained unchanged.

It then worked in Hudsons Bay, James Bay, and Voisey's Bay and on the St.Lawrence until 2006. It was then acquired by Peter Kiewit + Sons Ltd, along withe the barge The Pugwash and managed by their Marystown Shipyard. It also worked in Saint John, NB on the LNG terminal.

In 2017 Kelly's Cove Salmon Ltd, part of Cooke Aquaculture, bought the tug. I believe they had chartered it for some time prior. Now cocooned at Thériault's it will be interesting to see what it looks like when it is unveiled.

Ghosting through fog off Saint John, NB in 20007, the tug appeared to be carrying a payload of portable toilets.

Alongside and dried out at the tidal pier, Atlantic Tamarack was getting some TLC.

Built in Saint John in 1969 as Irving Tamarack the tug was originally assigned to the monobuoy serving Irving Oil's refinery. It has been working for Harbour Development Ltd for many years and usually attends the crane barge / dredge Cranemaster. That rig is in Shelburne for refit, so the tug is currently idled. Alongside it is what appears to be a modified seine skiff, which may be Thériault's own yard tug.

June 21 Digby

McNally Marine is carrying out some work at the ferry terminal and clearing away before the 5pm arrival of the Fundy Rose, the tug J.F. Whalen is hauling the crane barge Beaver Kay toward Digby harbour.

The tug was built in 2014 in Gaspé and is a 540 bhp twin screw vessel with push knees. It has a removable wheelhouse to make it truckable. 

The barge is former HMC Dockyard steam crane barge YD251 built in 1953 in Saint John and purchased by Beaver Marine and rebuilt in 1996. McNally purchased Beaver Marine but did not rename the barge. 

Visitors to Ship Central Eastern (home of Shipfax and Tugfax) may be treated to the sight of the barge's original name board, among other artefacts. It was rescued - with permission - from a dumpster, causing much amusement for the demolition crew.

This is the steam crane shortly before I retrieved the name board. (October 10, 1995)

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Dutch tug bound for Canada

As the Royal Netherlands Navy upgrades its tug fleet, one of its veteran tugs is bound for Canada. Regge A875 is one of the four tug Linge class* declared surplus. Although not powerful by today's standards at 1600 bhp it has been well maintained and has many good years left in the right trade.

Photo taken when the tug was new, by unknown photographer (photo acquired in trade)

Despite being built in 1987, it has many desirable characteristics: including twin screws with controllable pitch props and has firefighting gear. It also has sufficient accommodation above the waterline to ensure that it can be registered in Canada. Despite its somewhat spartan appearance (and also in terms of interior fittings), it seems well worth upgrading to Canadian regulations.

As usual anonymity surrounds the name of the buyer, but all will be revealed in due course, including arrival date in Canada. The tug has been based in Den Helder.

Addendum: from online photos I can see that the tug is also fitted with a towing winch.
* - Linge A874, Hunze A876, Rotte A877. A fifth tug, named Gouwe A878 of the same class, but built 10 years later, will be retained by the RNN.

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